Dizzy determined to find his mojo

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Jason Gillespie thinks Shaun Tait could be the man to lead the
new generation of Australian quicks, but his own future, as he
searches for his lost mojo in an effort to restart his
international career, is less certain.

Gillespie doesn't know what went wrong on this Ashes tour, but
nor does he believe he is finished as a Test bowler. After tumbling
from second to fifth in the Australian pace pecking order in the
space of two months, the 30-year-old said his natural
disappointment was tempered by happiness for Tait - and by the
feeling that he has come through tougher things than this in a
69-Test, 251-wicket career that in its early years was disrupted by
some horrendous injuries.

"I suppose at the moment at least I've got my health. When
you're lying in a hospital bed with your leg busted and your wrist
busted, that's pretty tough," said Gillespie, referring to his
infamous outfield collision in Kandy with Steve Waugh in 1999, when
he and Waugh were taken by army helicopter to a Colombo hospital
for surgery.

"This is different in the sense that everything's feeling good,
I'm just not doing what I can do at the moment. I haven't lost it
or anything, it's just that my mojo's temporarily disappeared, you
know?

"It will be back. I've always been a big believer in that if you
keep working hard, you keep doing the right things, things will
sort themselves out. That's how I'll be approaching it.

"I'll be doing all the dirt-tracker stuff this week, running the
drinks out, getting the boys whatever they need. I'll embrace that.
It could be worse - I could be at home, not part of the tour at
all. I am disappointed and I'm hurting because I've lost my Test
spot, but on a brighter note it gives me extra motivation to get it
back."

In the space of an emotional few minutes in a Trent Bridge
locker room this week, Ricky Ponting told one of Australian
cricket's most popular characters what deep down he already knew -
that he was dropped, and that his young South Australian teammate,
22-year-old Tait, would play in his place in the fourth Test.

Gillespie, one of very few established players to be axed during
Australia's era of sustained success, expressed genuine delight for
Tait. "I'd just found out I wasn't playing but I'd set myself for
it," said Gillespie. "Taity's walked in and I must admit I couldn't
stop grinning for him. It's just awesome.

"He had this silly grin on his face as well, he was just
chuffed. He felt bad for me, obviously, we're good mates. But I
just shook his hand, said, 'It's awesome mate, I'm proud of you. Go
for it.' He's going to do really well in Test cricket, I know that,
and I'm 100 per cent behind him, as are all the lads.

"He's got a lot of ticker and he's obviously got the talent
… I'd like to think he could be that guy down the track, who
in five or seven years is the main man. He's a good lad and I think
he'll do really well."

The obvious difference between this crossroads and the one
Gillespie faced when he cracked his leg in Kandy is that form
doesn't necessarily heal like a broken bone.

Although optimistic that hard work will bring him back, no
amount of looking at video footage of Michael Vaughan attacking the
boundaries off his bowling on the way to 166 at Old Trafford has
helped Gillespie understand what changed to give him a return of
just three wickets at a cost of 100 runs each in three Ashes
Tests.

"A lot of people ask me these questions, what went wrong?"
Gillespie said. "I honestly just put it down to an execution thing.
Normally I can hit my areas all the time. I can't put a finger on
why I haven't been able to do that as well as I know I can, but
I've sort of done it in glimpses. I've had really good spells then
I've had spells where I haven't been able to put it together.

"I went and had a bit of a look at the footage and I reckon he
[Vaughan] got away with a bit. There were some good shots there, no
doubt, but there were also pull shots three-quarters of the way up
off stump. If he misses that he's out, bowled. I think there was a
mixture of great strokeplay and a bit of luck.

"The game's just testing me out at the moment. I haven't bowled
well, I've acknowledged that. I'll just get back to training and do
the work and get myself right."

Ponting suggested Gillespie needed to rediscover his snarling
aggression if he was to break back into the Test team for the
Australian summer.

"He's worked hard right through the tour and unfortunately for
Jason he just hasn't been at his best," Ponting said.

"You never know, there might be another opportunity on this tour
for him. If not, he's just got to get back to domestic cricket at
home and do what he does best, which is to … be aggressive,
bowl fast and take lots of wickets."